Man shot Thursday under Interstate 5

Airport Way South and South Horton Street in Seattle. (Google Street View)

A man called police about 5:30 a.m. Thursday saying he’d been shot in the leg under Interstate 5, near a homeless encampment known as The Jungle.

The man’s camp site was under the northbound lanes near Airport Way South and South Horton Street. The victim told police two men came to his tent and asked for marijuana.

“He stated that he did not have any and then was shot in the leg,” Detective Mark Jamieson said in a statement. “The victim told operators that the two suspects fled on foot northbound.”

Police found the 39-year-old victim walking toward Airport Way South with a gunshot wound to his right thigh. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center and expected to survive.

Investigators couldn’t find the suspects or a shell casing at the scene. The investigation is ongoing.

That area under Interstate 5 is known for homeless campers and The Jungle – the wooded area near the interchange of Interstate 5 and Interstate 90 – has been a problem for years.

On June 27, 2009, 55-year-old Bernardino Maceo-Toirac was shot multiple times after an argument with another man who camped in the area. He was hit at least once in the chest and died in surgery at Harborview.

Investigators tried to find the suspect with police dogs and the King County Sheriff’s helicopter, but the suspect was not found.

Less than a month later, Warren J. Bothwell, 45, was fatally shot in the chest in the Jungle. Police were called about 12:30 a.m. that July 22 and Bothwell was found near the 1700 block of Airport Way South.